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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28482519">Amazing What A Good Dictionary Can Do For A Bloke!</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/DixieDale/pseuds/DixieDale'>DixieDale</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Promises [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Garrison's Gorillas</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 04:16:24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,023</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28482519</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/DixieDale/pseuds/DixieDale</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes it was just a matter of how you looked at things.  And, as Goniff finds when he takes Casino up on a little sound advice, a good dictionary could work wonders in helping you see things in the right light!</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Promises [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2086632</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Amazing What A Good Dictionary Can Do For A Bloke!</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Promise me you will be good."  </p><p>Not that it wasn't expected, that gentle cautionary plea; still, just how was he supposed to respond to that?</p><p>He hadn't much known HOW to respond, not in the beginning.  That bit in their letters, right up front, about how they hoped he was 'doing well', and that they hoped he was 'being good'.  It hadn't helped that they ended each letter with 'We love you, Rodney dear, and miss you.  Please promise you will be good and come home safe'.</p><p>Oh, that they loved and missed him was fine and all; he loved and missed them too.  Though that 'come home safe' always made him raise a skeptical brow.  He was in the middle of a ruddy war, doing things only a mad man would even consider doing, bullets flying, things blowing up all over the place, riding in submarines and airplanes and such.  'Safe' wasn't the first word that came to mind.</p><p>But it was that they hoped he was 'doing well' and 'being good'.  Wanted him to PROMISE to be good.  Those were the stumpers.  It got bad enough he put off writing them back, at least til the Lieutenant caught on and forced him to, not taking any of those "I don't know what to TELL them!" excuses.</p><p>Chief kept pushing at him to write them back too - oh, not a full out lecture, that wasn't Chiefy's style - just a word or two, but enough Goniff felt guilty, knowing Chief would have liked to have someone write him, have someone to write back.  From something Meghada had said, when Goniff had mentioned that, somehow he figured Chief would start getting a letter in the mail every now and again pretty soon, one of the Dragon's family more than likely.</p><p>Oddly enough, for Goniff's predicament, it was Casino that gave him the clue, gave him a way to write back, even being truthful in some parts, particularly about those 'doing well and being good' parts, even that PROMISING part that made Goniff so uncomfortable.  It was that impatient offhand comment of "well, that depends on what they mean by 'doing well' and you 'being good', don't it?" </p><p>Who would ever have thought Casino would be the one to come up with the answer??!  You'd think maybe Actor, with all his education, but no, it was Casino.  Well, it WAS Actor who pointed out the Oxford Unabridged Dictionary when Goniff asked, though not without a snooty comment and an odd look, but it had saved Goniff a lot of time looking through the library to find it, it being tucked way off on that back shelf.</p><p>See, those words 'well' and 'good', they had more than one meaning - had LOTS of them, even, and by picking and choosing carefully, he was able to sit down with a lighter heart and write those letters to his mum and his Aunt Moll.  </p><p>He was even able to say he was 'doing well' and 'being good'.  It was just a matter of squinting at those definitions and deciding on the right one to think about.  AND, of course, sliding over the few that just wouldn't work, like that 'obedient to rules', or 'displaying firm moral values'.  Well, not every key fit every lock; anyone could tell you that.</p><p>For example, he could honestly say he was 'doing well', if he thought about his intending to do right and be helpful (if not always succeeding) - as long as you made allowances as to who he was intending to be helpful toward.  Or maybe that high-sounding 'appropriate to the circumstances', cause, blimey, those circumstances could vary a lot!   How often did you hear people using it that way, after all - 'oh, doing as well as one could expect, I suppose, under the circumstances'.</p><p>It was that 'being good' that had really worried him, but that turned out easiest of all!  There were just all manner of things there to choose between, seems like!  'Having the quality required', or 'coming out ahead'.  Seems there were lots of jobs where he turned out to have that 'quality' someone required, whether it was scaling a wall or picking a pocket, or just acting as a distraction.  And as far as 'coming out ahead', glory, he did TRY for that!  There was 'showing kindness', which he tried to when he could.  'Skilled at doing a specified thing', well, that was obvious; he wouldn't BE there if he wasn't.  That went along with 'useful', which was something else he tried to be.  </p><p>Now, he'd known a lot of that before; he was no dummy and liked reading, though he didn't usually let many know about either of those things.  Just, he'd never really THOUGHT about those two words like that before, how useful they could be if you just looked at them in the right light, with the right squint.  </p><p>He chuckled as he thought on the night before, down at the Cottage.  Seems he could include that 'to be desired' or 'to be welcome' or 'to be approved of', even 'pleasing'.   Seems no one down there felt otherwise, not about any of that.</p><p>All that made it really very easy to finish those letters now, and it was with a head held high and a great deal of pride, he added the last paragraph.</p><p>"I love and miss you, more than I can say, but I can honestly say I'm doing well, and I also promise I'm being good and have every intention in continuing in that line."   </p><p>He still pretty much avoiding saying anything about that 'coming home safe'; that was a promise he just couldn't make and saw no sense in deceiving them.  But the rest?  That was tight!</p><p>He even remarked as much to the guys as they enjoyed a nice little drink later.  </p><p>"Never thought about it much, but it's ruddy nice to be able to 'ave someone ask you for a promise and you being able to deliver without any strain.  'Ave to thank you, Casino, for tipping me the nod that way; worked a right pip, it did!"</p>
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